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raised from the dead according to my gospel" (2 Tim. 2:8). So, to the
apostle, living or dying was not the relevant factor, but witnessing for
Christ and winning souls for Him was. This hope and expectation was
fulfilled in his life and most certainly in his death.
The hope in Him who was the resurrection and the life (John 11:25),
who was dead but then alive forevermore (Rev. 1:18), sustained Paul in
his last hours on earth; for he "was looking into the great beyond, not
with uncertainty or dread, but with joyous hope and longing expecta-
tion."—The
Acts of the Apostles,
p. 511. He knew that while death was
the end of life, just as surely was the resurrection to eternal life the end of
death.
Even today, centuries after Paul's voice has been silenced, his words
bring untold comfort to Christian believers. His mighty exposition of the
theme of Christ's resurrection and the consequent resurrection of all who
believe in Him is immortalized in 1 Corinthians 15, leading to this glorious
climax: "0 death, where is thy sting, 0 grave, where is thy victory?"
(1 Cor. 15:55).
DAY
What other truth is inseparable from the doctrine of the resurrection?
2 Tim. 1:10.
Lazarus, Dorcas, the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow of Nain,
Eutychus, the son of the widow of Zarephath, and the son of the
Shunamite woman were raised from the dead, but all of them died a sec-
ond time. Their resurrection merely gave them an extension of life on
earth. But the final resurrection at the second coming of the Lord will be
to a life that has no end—to immortality or corruption—when old age will
not be synonymous with decrepitude and feebleness. It is a virtual re-
creation, when there will be no more sickness, pain, senility, blindness,
deafness, or handicaps of any kind. The inhabitants of earth will once
more be untouched by sin—a glory to their re-Creator—for death itself
will be dead.
When our first parents disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, they
were denied access to the tree of life; otherwise they would have lived
forever (Gen. 3:22, 23), thus perpetuating sin. As a consequence of their
exclusion from Eden, the human race has suffered death. But in Christ
there is the sure hope of returning to the Garden, of partaking of the fruit
of the tree of life, and of receiving the indescribable gift of immortality.
A message with this hope at its core inspires us to give our all in declar-
ing it. It magnifies the bearer and becomes even more encouraging in the
process. Because he had such a hope, the following could be said about
Paul at his trial before Nero: "Faithful among the faithless, loyal among
the disloyal, he stands as God's representative, and his voice is as a voice
from heaven. There is no fear, no sadness, no discouragement in word or
look. Strong in a consciousness of innocence, clothed in the panoply of
truth, he rejoices that he is a son of God. His words are as a shout of
victory above the roar of battle. He declares the cause to which he has
devoted his life, to be the only cause that can never fail. Though he may
perish, the gospel will not perish. God lives, and His truth will tri-
umph."—The
Acts of the Apostles,
p. 495.
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